"There is no Eastern and Western Philosophy"

by Hubert Cua (Part 5 of 5)

I used to think that Eastern Philosophy, particularly Chinese Philosophy, and Western Philosophy strongly differ from each other. Even if they have some similarities, their similarities are quite insignificant to talk about. It is only until recently that I started to think that this seems wrong.

Several meetings ago, Dr. Garcia said something like this. For the westerners, art is to hide art. Poetry brings us to the unsaid and leaves it unsaid. Isn’t that eastern art? My impression of Western Philosophy on art is that they are materialistic, distinct, clear, direct, demonstrative and showy. On the other hand, my impression of Eastern Philosophy on art is that they are spiritualistic, indistinct, vague, indirect, undemonstrative and hiding. (All the adjectives I use do not connote inferiority and superiority.)  However, it seems that Eastern and Western Philosophy on art has converging point.

Few meetings ago, we talked about how some western philosophers think that humans is essentially good, while other western philosophers think that humans is essentially bad. Isn’t that one of the debates in Chinese Philosophy several thousands of years ago? When we took Chinese Philosophy in high school, our Chinese teacher said that some Chinese Philosophers, like Mencius, think that humans is essentially good, while other Chinese Philosophers, like Xunzi, think that humans is essentially bad. How is that?

Well, I think before, since civilizations generally do not interact with one another, each civilization formed its own unique characteristics. This makes each civilization clearly contrasts with all other civilizations. As time passes by, philosophy slowly becomes universal. Eventually, there will be a possibility that there will be no Eastern and Western Philosophy in the future. Is this good?